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Dream Maker
Witterquick and Cindarr are driven to save a beautiful woman from the captivity of a demon. But is there more than meets the eye? Synopsis Witterquick finds himself on a desolute crag, wandering through mist. He hears a voice calling to him, begging him to save them from an eternity of imprisonment. The voice reveals itself to belong to Sirena, the former queen of the area. She explains that she was imprisoned by a demon long ago and that only the Star of Tisandra, a gem that rests in the head of a statue, can free her. Before Witterquick can promise to free Sirena, the demon appears and attacks! Witterquick dodges one blow, but the next looks sure to finish him off, until he wakes up, safe in his bed in Leoric's castle. Witterquick tells Leoric of his dream and his intention to find the Star of Tisandra to free Sirena. Over his reservations, Leoric gives Witterquick his blessings and good luck for his quest. Meanwhile, Cindarr wakes from a dream in the same startled manner as Witterquick. He quickly dresses in his armour and, ignoring the protests of Reekon and Mortdred, mounts up to leave. Their insistence that Darkstorm's permission is required to leave the castle falls on deaf ears as Cindarr boots them out of his way and exits. Unknown to both Spectral Knight and Darkling Lord, they are observed by Sirena, as she sits in wait in her prison. On an abandoned highway between West Klavin and East Rogol stands the Bronze Warrior, a statue that drew flocks of tourists during the Age of Science. Now it is a forgotten curio in the domain of a regional warlord, Kavor. From a distance, Witterquick observes Kavor brutalising his slaves and though he recognises that this is the very type of menace the Spectral Knights exist to fight, he decides to focus on retrieving the Star. However, he notices Cindarr also making an approach for the Bronze Warrior. Quickly, he activates Light Speed and rushes the Darkling Lord, demanding to know why he wants the jewel. Cindarr refuses to divulge the purpose of his quest, save that a woman's freedom is at stake. Witterquick insists that Sirena chose him as her champion, not Cindarr, but before they can fight over the matter more, they're attacked by Kavor and his forces. Forging a temporary alliance, Cindarr uses Destruction to scatter the enemy forces so the pair can flee. Kavor is left swearing vengeance. Finding shelter on a remote ledge, weariness overtakes Witterquick and he dozes. Sirena appears again in his dream, encouraging him not to lose heart. She assuages his concerns about Cindarr and informs him of a cave he can use to gain access to the inside of the Bronze Warrior, and thus the Star, but warns that a dangerous beast lies within. Pushing aside his doubts over why Cindarr also seems to be looking to rescue Sirena, Witterquick goes to the cave. Suddenly, the beast appears and grabs him from behind. Cindarr uses this as an opportunity to duck past, leaving Witterquick to change to his Cheetah form and bite his way free. He reaches the statue head in time to find Cindarr freeing the Star of Tisandra, and is perplexed by the Darkling Lord's knowledge of the secret passageway. But before Cindarr can secure the jewel, it is shot from his hand by an arrow fired by Kavor's forces. Using Light Speed, Witterquick dashes down the statue and recovers the Star. Without breaking pace, he then smashes through the legs of the statue, sending it crashing down onto the warlord and his men. As Kavor brushes off criticism and rubble, he's surprised by the emergence of a gorilla from the wreckage. After begging the creature not to kill him, Kavor is too happy to be alive and merely bound with twisted metal to worry that his hold over his village is now assuredly broken. Cindarr follows the path to Sirena's prison, knowing he has no hope of beating Witterquick there. He wonders whether he can still manage to stop the Spectral Knight and save Sirena himself, when the mist forms into wyrms that attack him. Sirena appears as a form in the mist and tells Cindarr that he is now surplus to her requirements. Cindarr attempts save himself using Destruction, but he and the creatures are lost in the chaos. Witterquick has encountered the demon from his dream, who warns the Knight that the contents of the crypt are not fit for mortal eyes, that Sirena is an evil witch that has been captive for a thousand years. Witterquick goes down from the demon's attacks but realises the creature isn't trying to kill him. Using this to his advantage, he ruthlessly counter-attacks, taking down the creature. Recovering the Star of Tisandra, he makes the final ascent to Sirena's prison. Suddenly, Cindarr appears in his gorilla form again, tackling Witterquick and warning him that Sirena is evil. The jewel is knocked from Witterquick's grasp and affixes itself to the prison door, releasing Sirena. Cindarr resumes his human form to try and convince Witterquick that Sirena is simply using both of them. To make his point, she begins emerging from her prison, but instead of the glamorous beauty from their dreams, she is an ugly demonic creature. Finally convinced, Witterquick teams with Cindarr to combine the powers of their staffs, driving Sirena back into the prison and creating a massive explosion that buries the entrance and causes tremors felt for miles. In the aftermath, the two knights rise and grudgingly admit respect for each other. The demon approaches and reveals that Sirena is the Mistress of Dreams, whose slumber had allowed man to dream peacefully until it was disturbed by the onset of the Age of Magic. He then identifies himself as the Guardian of Dreams, who was assigned the task of guarding her but, as he laments, was not strong enough in fulfilling his duty but is thankful that two friends like Witterquick and Cindarr were able to prevail. The Visionaries scoff at the Guardian's mistaken assumption before going their separate ways. Characters In order of appearance Quotes "None may look upon the beauty of Sirena and live! She is mine -- my prisoner -- and I will never let you steal her away!" :— The Guardian of Dreams rather creating his own problems by not being clear about the situation. "This dream, whatever it was, compels you. That compulsion, and your impetuous nature, make for an irresistible combination. I wish you luck." :— Leoric gives Witterquick the green light to set off on his quest, though perhaps not for the best of reasons. "It can't be your well known appetite, unless you're mounting an armored raid on the castle pantry." :—The ever-concerned Reekon would like to know why Cindarr is up and armored at so early an hour. "My father was a warrior, my mother a master athlete. I'm a knight of the Spectral Light and no one takes me down! No one!" :— Pride cometh before Witterquick breaks your statue. "She lied to both of us! All she wants is the jewel! She doesn't care which of us becomes her champion! Once she has the jewel, we'll be nothing to her!" :— Cindarr sees the light. "But in the end, we fought as allies. Imagine if our leaders could find a way to do the same." "A pretty dream." :— Witterquick''' and Cindarr realize the futility of anticipating such a proposition. '''Notes Trivia *Cindarr sleeps with a portrait of Darkstorm above his bed (though it is a room in Darkstorm's castle - they might all come with one). *A large green lizard is seen perched on his footboard for some reason, but it isn't Reekon unless he somehow sneaked out and removed his armor prior to greeting Cindarr just minutes later. *Witterquick addresses himself to Kavor as a "knight of the Spectral Light". Whether or not writer Gerry Conway meant instead to say "Magical Light", it's the sole instance in the comic of a Spectral Knight identifying themselves by any variation of the title. *In his second dream sequence, Witterquick is naked when he approaches Sirena in his state of despair. Nudity is often interpreted in dream studies as representing feelings of vulnerability or exposure. *This is the first issue to feature a letter page. It includes an assistant editor credit for future comics legend Dwayne McDuffie, who likely put the page together. Notable comments and questions include: **How can a mollusk fight a lion? (Carefully) **Is Visionaries an "unlimited" series? (Yes, subscribe now!) **Will there be a cartoon of Visionaries? (Only a mini-series, which may have already aired in your area!) **Keep this up and you might be as good as GI Joe! Errors *It's a little odd that this issue features a precious stone that has "star" in its name, just one issue after the story "The Star Stone". But hey, at least the cover is representative this time! *New Valarak is misspelled on page 21 as "Valaraak". Continuity notes *Final appearance of Mortdred. *The Star Comics logo returns to the masthead on the first page. Reprintings *'' Visionaries'' (Marvel UK) #5 *''Visionaries'' Spring Special 1988 (Marvel UK) - Omits page 6. References Category:Star Comics Category:Media Category:Fiction Category:Comic Books